Thermostatic control mechanism



SePt- 30, 1,930- ,v D. H. HILL 1,777,041

THERIOSTATI C lONTROI.' MECHAN I SM Filed Oct. 19. 1929- Patented Sept.30, 1930 UNITED STAT- Es DEWEY II; HILL, or MAOOMB, ILLINOIS,

ssIGNoR, v:BY ANIESNE`V Ass'IGNMEN'rs; TO

GLOBE AMERICAN CORPORATION, OF Koroiv'ro; riviera-NA, 1A CORPORATION OFIN'- Y DIANA.

THERMOSTATIC CONTROLI ME'oHnNIsIr Application filed-*October 19, 1929iSeri'aI No. 400,762.

My invention relates to the class of thermostatic regulators in whichthe controlling action is secured through the Vexpansionand contractionVof thermally responsive devices.; and particularly to regulators inwhich a lever is moved in one direction by a plurality of thermallyeXpansible devices acting on this lever. I

In regulating a brooder stove or an incubator thermostatically, it haslong been, oustomary to connect the'damper associated with such a devicetoalever,V and tointerpose a thermally expansible devicebetvveen thelever and a stationary thrust member. Theexpan-- sible devices commonlyused for this purpose are fflat capsules orhollovv Waters each con-vtaining a small amount of. ether,'from which Wafer is damagedorotherwise has its seal brokemso that suchfa so-calledthermostatic Waferis not entirely. dependable for thede- `sired control ofthe device whichis to be regulatedby it. 1 l v Since'an improper regulation oi abrooderstove may cause the death ofscoresofuchicks,

and since an improper regulation of an incubator may spoil hundreds ofeggs, suchappliances now are often provided with regulators employingtvvothermostatic wafers respectively engaging ,the tvvo arms ofa leverof the first class, .which'lever is pivotedon one arm of the actuatinglever ofthe appliance. Thus arranged, theunruptured Wafer Will stilllmove the actuating. lever"l in ,case fthe otherwafer becomesinoperativegso thatfthere still is some thermostatic regulation. i yHowever, the movementfimparted" to the actuating lever bytheyeXpans'ior1'-' of the re-` maining'operativejvvater is halvedbytlieinterposed connecting lever so that the damper or other controlelemel'it ofl the appliance Will only" be moved half of the intendeddis- "tance,V therebystill: causing damageto the {obtion, in .which theether may escape unnoticedv in case a one of the wafers eilectiveinca-se the other gives out, but Vwill do so Withoutl reducing themovement of the:actuating lever in response to the Vincrease intemperaturey for which the Watersare constructed. Moreover, myinventionv aims to provide a` simple: and effective arrangementpermitting such? amore effective employment Of'tWo Wafersin aythermostatic regulating mechanism, which `Will permit an independentadjustment for the tWO Waters, and Which Will.l be.l particularlysuitable for use lin conneotionwith incubators heated byoil-burning-lamps.

Still Afurther and also more jects` Will appearv from the accompanyingdrawings and; form the following. specifica- Fig. 1'- is averticalsection through aportion Ot an incubator equipped with a`thermostatic regulator embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section takenalong the line 2 2 'oFig.1. i

Fig. 3 is anenlarged and-fragmentary vertical section,V taken along theline' 3f-3 of In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a vportionof an incubator;vhaving an endwall 1 through which hot Water piping2 exten-ds fromatubvular Water container 3, this containerbeing heated by an' Oil lampdisposed so that the upper endfoits lamp chimney 4 extendsinto the lowerp'ortionof the Water; container.

`The bore )ft-his tubular containervhas an up- Ivvard extension 5`forming aflue-provided wvith-.perforat'ions 6 through whichthecombustionggases can" issue at allftimes, and the exit of such gasesthrough the upper end of -theuflue isY controlled `by adamper- `7y whichAmay seatL on the upper endA oftheii'ue `when vthe incubatorV is so coolthat', the maximum heating eifect; of the,` `lamp onthe Watercontaineris'-I1ee ded`-l 1 This damper -zating lever, 15 Ofmythermostatid` regulating:V

iguales4 ob. l

7 is suspended by a linkt l8 -rom the Outer ar'm 9 of apdamper leverwhich I is pivotedat 110 on a casting 11 whichextends I Cil mechanism.This lever is formed intermediate its ends with bends, so as to offsetthe inner arm 15A from the other arm 15B, and the part of the leverbetween the said inner and outer arms is provided with a perforation15C.

Extending through this perforation is a stationary bracket 16 whicheffectively crosses the actuating lever, so that the inner part 16A ofthis bracket underhangs the inner arm 15A of the actuating lever, whileanother bracket portion 16B overhangs the outer arm 15B of the samelever, and a horizontal pivot pin 17 extends across the perforation 15Cin the actuating lever to pivot this lever to the bracket at theircrossing point on a horizontal axis.

Thus arranged, the actuating lever and the supporting bracket for thislever (which bracket forms the stationary thrust member ot my mechanism)are pivotally connected after the manner of pliers. Then I interpose twothermally expansible members 18 and 19 between the actuating lever andthe supporting bracket, respectively at opposite sides of the pivot pin17.

For the thermally expansible members I desirably employ thermostatic(ether containing) wa-fers, each having a stem (18A, 19A) socketed inthe supporting bracket, each wafer being of less height than the minimumoperative spacing of the bracket and lever portions between which thatwafer member is interposed, I also preferably provide an adjusting screw20 associated with each lever arm and engaging the adjacent thermostaticwater so that the latter can be suitably adjusted. I also desirablyspace the two wafer members equally from the pivot pin, so thatcounterpart wat-ers will exert an equal leverage on the actuating lever.

When the mechanism is thus assembled, a rise in theincubator'temperature to the point where the ether in the waters beginsto vaporize will expand both wafers, and each wafer will rock theactuating lever in the same direction, namely clockwise in Figs. 1 and3. Hence the resulting movement due to a given expansion of one wafermember will be the same as if the other wafer member were absent, butthe effective power will be doubled.

Itone wafer member is defective or becomes inoperative (as for example,by the escape of the ether from it), the other wafer member will stillmove the actuating lever tothe full extent for which the mechanism isdesigned, instead of having the extent of this movement reduced as inthe case of previously employed wafer and lever arrangements. Thus, withthe illustrated incubator, even a single one of the wafer membersv18 or19 will still lift the damper 8 for the full intended height when thatwafer is expanded,

decreased distance when one of these wafer members has given out.

Since suitable thermostatic wafers are quite cheap, the safeguard thussecured by my invention can be obtained at a trifling cost. Moreover, ifa single thermostatic wa- 'ter ot the commercial types does not affordthe desired reserve in actuating power, each wafer member may becomposed of a plurality of superposed wafers, such as the twin wafersshown in the drawings.

However, while` I have heretofore described my invention as employed inconnection with an incubator, I do not wish to be limited to anyparticular use of my thermostatic control mechanism. Nor do I wish to belimited lto the providing of a separately attached lever extension onthe actuating lever (ot` which the extension 14 eiectively forms apart), or to other details of the construction and arrangement abovedisclosed, since many changes might be made without departing eitherfrom the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A thermostatic regulator comprising a stationary thrust member, alever extending across the said member, means pivoting the -vlever tothe said member at the crossing thereof, and two thermally expansiblemeans interposed between the thrust member and the lever respectively atopposite sides of the pivoting means.

2. A thermostatic regulator comprising a stationary thrust member, alever extending across the said member, means pivoting the lever to thethrust member at the crossing thereof, and two counterpart thermallyexpansible means interposed between the thrust member and the leverrespectively at opposite sides of the pivoting means and at equaldistances from the latter.

3. A thermostatic regulator comprising a Vstationary thrust member, alever extending across the said member, means pivoting the lever to thethrust member at the crossing thereof, two thermally expansible meansinterposed between the thrust member and the lever respectively atopposite sides of the pivoting means, and independent adjusting meansrespectively associated with the two thermally expansible means.

` t. A thermostatic regulator comprising a stationary thrust member,alever extending across the said member, means pivoting the lever to thethrust member at the crossing thereof, two adjusting means threaded Ythrough the lever at opposite sides of the pivoting means and eachextending beyond the lever toward the thrust member, and two .thermallyexpansible means each interposed between the thrust member and one ofthe adjusting means. 'instead of only raising the damper for a 5. Thecombination with a damper, of a stationary supporting member, a lever ofthe first class crossing and pivoted to the said member, two thermallyexpansible means interposed between the lever and the said memberrespectively at opposite sides of the axis of the said pivoting, andconnections between one arm of the lever and the damper for moving thedamper.

6. The combination with a damper, of a stationary supporting member, alever of the lirst class crossing and pivoted to the said member, twothermally expansible means interposed between the lever and the saidmember respectively at opposite sides of the axis of the said pivoting,a second lever having one arm arranged for supporting the damper, and anadjustable connection between the other arm of the second lever and onearmV of the first named lever.

2o 7. A thermostatic regulator comprising a generally horizontalstationary supporting member having a vertical perforation intermediateits ends, a lever extending through the said perforation and presentingarms respectively overhanging and underhanging the said member, meansextending across the perforation for pivoting the lever to the saidmember on a horizontal axis, and two thermally expansible membersrespectively interposed between the said member and the said j leverarms.

8. A thermostatic regulator as per claim 7, including two adjustingmeans both mounted on the lever and each associated with one of 35 thethermally expansible members.

9. A thermostatic regulator comprising a stationary thrust member, alever extending across the. said member, means pivoting the lever to thesaid member adjacent to the crosslng thereof, two thermally expansiblemembers both supported by the thrust member and at opposite sides of thethrust member and of the axis of the said pivoting, and separate thrustscrews threaded through the lever and respectively engaging the twoVthermally expansible members. V

l0. A thermostatic regulator comprising a stationary thrust member, alever extending across the said member, means Vpivoting the lever to thesaid member adjacent to the crossing thereof, two thermally expansiblemembers both supported by the thrust member and at opposite sides of thethrust member and s'. of the axis of the said pivoting, each of the saidexpansible Vmembers being operatively interposed between the thrustmember and one arm of the lever, the lever and the thrust memberextending one through the other.

4, Signed at Macomb, Illinois, October-16th,

j DEWEY H. HILL.

